Bowditch shoots 65 to keep lead, Spieth 6 back at Nelson

Steven Bowditch watches his tee shot on the 17th hole during the first round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament, Thursday, May 28, 2015, in Irving, Texas.

Steven Bowditch watches his tee shot on the 17th hole during the first round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament, Thursday, May 28, 2015, in Irving, Texas.

(LM Otero / AP)

Schuyler DixonAP Sports Writer

Jordan Spieth six shots back heading into the final round of Byron Nelson

IRVING, Texas — Steven Bowditch shot a 4-under 65 on Saturday in the AT&T Byron Nelson to take a two-stroke lead and leave hometown favorite Jordan Spieth six shots back heading into the final round.

On a mostly sunny day that started with the second straight three-hour delay because of earlier rain, Bowditch got to 13-under 195. The Australian won the Texas Open last year in San Antonio for his lone PGA Tour title.

Dustin Johnson was in the group tied for second after the day's low round of 62 on the rain-altered par 69 at TPC Four Seasons.

Jonathan Randolph, playing with Spieth and sitting 266 spots behind him in the world ranking, briefly held the lead but went in the water on 18 for a double bogey that dropped him into a tie with Johnson, Texan Jimmy Walker, Scott Pinckney and John Curran. Pinckney shot 64, Randolph 65, and Walker and Curran 67.

Curran, the rookie who shared the second-round lead with Bowditch and Walker, rallied with three straight birdies late in the round.

Clouds gradually disappeared during the afternoon and the forecast is clear for Sunday. But the course is still soggy enough that the normally par-4 14th will remain a pitch-and-putt par 3 barely longer than 100 yards for the third straight round.

PGA Tour officials believe it's the first par-69 course in records going back to 1983. Threesomes will play off both tees again Sunday, and the final par total will be 277 after the first round played at the normal 70.

Bowditch, who held the lead alone after the first round, battled some marshy conditions to stay on top. The 31-year-old Australian who lives in the Dallas area had his only bogey at No. 9, when his tee shot went way right and he had to take a penalty drop in a mushy part of the rough.

The squish of his footsteps could be heard as he spent several minutes discussing his lie with rules official Peter Dachisen before finally hitting. Bowditch shook his head as he walked while the ball rolled onto a cart path behind a bunker left of the hole. He missed a par putt.

Spieth missed short birdie putts on his first two holes and never could make a strong push despite another large gallery urging every shot to go in.

That almost happened on the best spectator hole, the par-3 17th, when Spieth's tee shot landed less than a foot from the pin before backing up and settling about 8 feet away.

Fittingly on a frustrating day, Spieth left the putt on the edge of the cup, bending down to stare it for a few seconds in case it dropped before the Dallas native tapped it in.

Randolph played a six-hole stretch in 5 under, including an eagle at the par-5 seventh. He was a stroke up on Bowditch after making about a 25-footer at the par-4 12th, with Bowditch pulling even again after almost driving the green on the 323-yard, par-4 11th.

Johnson, who won the Cadillac Championship at Doral in March for his first win since a six-month hiatus for personal reasons, had four birdies in five holes on the front and finished his round by putting his approach at the par-4 18th inside 5 feet for a birdie.